Soon after the breakout of Portugal, Eisenhower ordered a general advance out of Gibraltar. He designated Montgomery as his field commander, the man who would carry out the orders he issued. The arrangement worked well. While Montgomery was the commander on paper, Eisenhower was one who was really in command (had to explain why the game designated Montgomery and not Eisenhower as the commander)
Wilson also ordered a general advance in all directions out of Valencia. The Americans were finally making headway.
As soon as he seized Salamanca, Patton ordered his men onward to Madrid. After years of inactivity, Patton finally had his chance to be the darling of the press and the public hero he was after the liberation of Britain.
He managed to drive the Spanish out of there capital and seized it soon after. In the coming months, the Spanish would make innumerable attempts to retake the capital but not a single one of them would ever come close to dislodging Patton. The Americans were here to stay.
The Americans were overrunning Spain. Once Madrid fell, the south of Spain would be cut off from the North of the country along with any Spanish soldiers in the area.
The Spanish continued to rush men into Madrid in an effort to stall Patton's advance, but they all failed. Eventually, Patton ordered the city of Siguenza seized. That would cut off anybody in the capital from supply and also close the route to further invasion.
The push succeeded as another force pushed into Madrid. The Spanish were getting desperate and repeatedly pleaded to their German allies to send their men back to try and through the Americans back, but the Germans were dragging their feet. The security and continued existence of Nationalist Spain was not there concern and all they cared about was ensuring that France was secure. Patton pushed this army out of the capital too and kept advancing without missing a step. Then, on August 11, 1952, Patton finally entered the capital city of Madrid amidst fervent celebration.
Franco's government, which had started as incredibly popular, was being seen more and more as a puppet of the Germans. Though they were not officially German puppets, they had been dragged into a war they neither needed or wanted by said government. The war had only continued to decline in popularity as it went on until virtually no one outside of the Government supported it, and they still refused to end it. The government had also proven itself completely dependent on the Germans for its defense, something that disgusted the Spanish people. "If they knew they were not strong enough to take on all potential enemies in the war, why did they enter it in the first place?' That was the question on everyone's lips. Patton set up his headquarters in the old Royal Palace and began planning further offensives.
Patton then joined the advance on Siguenza.
while this was going on, the Spanish forces in the South were being forced into an increasingly small pocket.
Meanwhile, in Siguenza, the number of men involved in the battle began to grow until both sides commanded truly massive forces in the area.
That was when the Germans, who had recently returned, force the Americans out of Guadalajara. The attempt to retake it would become one of the bloodiest battles of the war and quite possibly the bloodiest battle in American history up to that point.
Eventually, the number of men involved in the battle for Siguenza were almost equal
After that, the offensive in the North ground to a temporary halt. Patton decided not to try and take Siguenza again until the south fell and all of those men could be sent back up North.
Guadalajara soon fell, breaking the encirclement in the south. Patton hoped that the city of Albacete could be seize quickly, as it would create a new encirclement and create a linkup with the men in Valencia if they could take it.
He also ordered the recapture of Guadalajara as soon as possible. All men who were in a position to attack it and did not have an objective to take at the moment were ordered to attack it. Hitler decided that the area was key enough, he even sent his right-hand man, Heinrich Himler, there to command the defense.
The Germans also continued to hammer against the American positions in Northern Spain, but they were never able to make headway.
Guadalajara also started to gain a reputation as a meat grinder. the Germans sent an almost unending stream of men into the area. They would always be beaten, but the groups they sent continued to grow in size. Patton feared that eventually, the Americans would have to call of the attack because of this.
This is exactly what would eventually happen.
He immediately ordered another attack against the Guadalajara salient. He did not try to cut it off because he was not sure he had the manpower to do so. He feared if he tried that, the Germans would send men from all the surrounding areas. He also thought that they would simply order Guadalajara abandoned, or worse, they might order the men there to attack him in Siguenza. Most of the Northern forces were also disorganized and demoralized and he knew they would not hold up in a knockdown dragout fight.
Despite his initial concerns, once he felt his men were ready, he did order the region attacked. by attacking both at the same time, he hoped to force the men from Siguenza into Guadalajara and then destroy them. However, that was still a little farther in the future. The Germans in Guadalajara also managed to force the Americans out of Valencia. The Men from Castellon immediately abandoned the position in an attempt to reinforce the position.
Up North, Stillwell, who had been commanding an advance from La Coruna on Ovieda, was also forced to retreat.
The reinforcement of Valencia also succeeded as another successful attack on Guadalajara forced the Germans there to abandon their advance toward the city. That was the other reason that Guadalajara was chosen as a target over Siguenza. While the Germans could make no headway in their attempts to force the Americans in the North out of their positions, forays from Guadalajara had forced several American divisions to retreat. While no provinces were lost, the German position in Guadalajara was threatening a breakthrough, and that could not be allowed. If pressure could be kept on the area, they would be unable to make any advances.
Well that is another update done. The next one will come either latter today or tommorow morning, depending on whether I can find the time to put it up later on before it gets too late.
